.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;}
The Young Women’s Resource Center (YWRC) has doubled – both in size and services – in the last 10 years, and continues to be an important part of the lives of girls in the Greater Des Moines community.

YWRC was established by Louise Noun and other community activists in 1978 as a place where “any young woman could go to get any kind of help or support she might need,” said Heather Soener, the center’s executive director.

“It was kind of her vision along with several others to create an agency that would help girls when they were struggling, but also empower them, to help them believe they could do whatever they wanted to do,” Soener said.

The YWRC offers services to women ages 10 to 21 and works specifically with fifth- and eighth-grade girls in the Des Moines school system through an eight-week problem solving program. Soener said all services at the center are free, confidential and voluntary and are broken into two categories: prenatal and perinatal.

Prenatal services include after-school and leadership groups for young girls, therapy from a licensed therapist and pregnancy prevention. Jennifer Mesecher, YWRC finance manager, said one of the most important services the center provides is prevention by educating younger girls in schools.

“The whole piece we do in the middle schools – self-esteem, body image, healthy relationships and reproductive health – those four components can determine what happens in their future,” she said.

The center also aims to help young mothers with support programs, childbirth education classes, sexual abuse prevention and the Little Passenger Safety Program, which provides free car seats to families. One perinatal service, the Doula Program, pairs new mothers with a woman trained to help them specifically.

As Des Moines becomes more diverse, the center has adapted to and now offers classes in Spanish and occasionally has classes interpreted into Vietnamese, Sudanese and Arabic, Mesecher said.

Recently, the YWRC created a young professionals council to plan events that will increase awareness among a younger audience.